Two-child limit: Letter to UK Government

To: Rt Hon Liz Kendall MP
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

From: Shirley-Anne Somerville

Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice 

Dear Liz,

As you will have seen, the Scottish Government Budget yesterday committed to mitigating the two-child limit for Universal Credit in so far as we can within our devolved powers.

Eradicating child poverty in Scotland is a national mission and we believe that this policy will be a key driver in delivering that mission.

The Scottish Government is committing the resources required to begin the preparatory work in the coming financial year with a view to making the first mitigation payments in 2026-27.

The Finance Secretary was careful to note that co-operation with your Department will be necessary, which I understand will primarily need to centre around systems development and data sharing. We will also want to work with you to ensure that any mitigation payments  are disregarded as income for benefit calculations.

The Scottish Government is keen to progress this work as soon as possible. I would therefore be keen to meet before Christmas to discuss our policy and how, together, we might best be kept appraised of progress as officials take forward this work.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,
SHIRLEY-ANNE SOMERVILLE